A Warm(ish) Welcome
by animewatchers186
Summary: 'The door swung open and the two girls lay sprawled on the floor at the top of the stairs. Mei pulled herself up to find six people staring at her completely dumbfounded.' Mei and Sakura decide to follow Aki one day. One-shot. Slight YuseixAki.


A Warm(ish) Welcome

**Hey Guys! Thank you for all of the favourites/followers/reviewers of my Yu-Gi-Oh! GX one-shots. I have had a few reviews saying so-and-so was out of character, so-and-so would never do this, i'm SORRY! OK? GX is my second favourite, 5D's is my all time favourite! Hence, this story. R&R!**

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Mei and Sakura(*) didn't know what to think. They silently walked after Aki as she rounded a narrow corner. Following her seemed a good idea at the time, but with Aki walking faster and faster, and them getting further and further away from the centre of the city, they realised that it wasn't such a great idea. But they had followed her so far and they didn't know where they were.

Aki had become a lot happier over the past months and a lot friendlier. Her powers were under control now, and her grades and popularity were shooting up. She had become very good friends with Mei and Sakura but with Aki frequently disappearing, they were beginning to get concerned.

Aki walked into a large square, with a fountain in the middle, her high-heels clapping on the cobbled ground. For the outskirts of town, it was quite a nice place.

Mei and Sakura hid behind a wall as they watched Aki open the door of one of the large buildings and meander inside. They heard Aki say something and a muffled reply came from inside the room. Then Aki shut the door.

Sakura looked at Mei and they began slowly walking to the door. The building had no bell, no number and no name.

"What is this place?" Mei hissed.

"How should I know?" Sakura whispered. "This was your idea!"

Mei rolled her eyes and lightly placed her ear to the door, Sakura did likewise. They could hear several muffled voices behind the door, but they couldn't hear what they were saying.

Sakura sighed, annoyed. She pushed her ear a tiny bit harder against the door, trying to make out the conversation.

"You idiot, Atlas!" They heard a man scream from inside. "We can't afford all this coffee! Aki had lent us enough money!"

Mei inwardly gasped. These people had borrowed money off Aki? Atlas… She was sure she had heard that name somewhere… She pushed her ear against the door even harder but didn't realise until too late, she had pushed a little _too _hard.

The door swung open and the two girls lay sprawled on the floor at the top of the stairs. Mei pulled herself up to find six people staring at her completely dumfounded.

The former Duel King, Jack Atlas was sprawled on an old sofa; The Duel King, Yusei Fudo was crouched next to a black and orange D-Wheel; a man with orange hair stared at them, mouth wide open; two twins, Mei recognised from a few years below, Rua and Ruka, were perching on the bottom steps of the staircase and Aki was sitting on Yusei's D-Wheel, staring at them.

There was a _very _long awkward silence.

"You followed me!?" Aki asked in disbelief, staring at her two friends that were trying to stand.

"Duel Academia students?" Jack asked. "Go away, we're not signing autographs!"

"Like anyone would want your autograph, Jack" Orange-head said.

"Shut it, Crow, or I swear I will-"

Aki glared at Jack. "Shut up Jack. These people are my friends. They obviously _followed me_. Yusei, is their anywhere I can talk to my friends in private?"

Yusei looked up from the D-Wheel and shrugged. "You can take my room, if you don't mess it up."

"Arigatō, follow me you two" she said looking over her shoulder at the guilty two.

Aki began climbing a ladder to the top floor. Mei and Sakura stared in disbelief. A ladder?

Aki looked down and gestured for them to come up. Mei went first, followed by Sakura, who was wishing her skirt wasn't so short.

At the top of the ladder, they found themselves in a narrow corridor with six doors leading off it. One had a sign saying "Crows Room! LOL!" A messy blackbird had been drawn underneath. Another had been spray-painted with the words: "Jacks Room. Crow is NOT allowed in!" The third door had a simple "Y" on the front.

Aki pushed the door open and walked inside. It looked like it hadn't been slept in in weeks. There was absolutely nothing except for a bed, a cabinet and a wardrobe.

"This is his _bedroom_?" Sakura whispered. "It's very… _plain."_

"They haven't been here very long." Aki said, sitting on the bed. "And besides Yusei gets very homesick. He tends to drive home for the night."

"Home?"

"The orphanage in the Satellite."

"He goes back to the Satellite? To the _orphanage_?" Mei whispered. "But he lives here now. Why would he go back?"

Aki's eyes narrowed.

"If you had friends in the Satellite, wouldn't you go back and see them?"

Mei squirmed uncomfortably at the question. Sakura shifted her feet.

"So, why did you guys follow me anyway?"

Mei and Sakura looked at each other.

"We were _worried _about you, Aki" whispered Mei.

"And you obviously weren't walking home, because you were walking in the complete opposite direction." Said Sakura.

Aki folded her arms and surveyed her friends. She then sighed and grinned at them, chuckling.

"Thanks for the concern, you two, but trust me, I'm fine. The boys are really nice too me… Well, Yusei and Crow are, I'm not on good terms with Jack at the moment."

"Why not?" Sakura asked, looking at her innocently.

Aki's face darkened but at the same time a blush rose to her cheeks. She folded her arms and scowled.

"Jack… He…. Well, he…" Aki sighed. "It's nothing for you to worry about, girls. Come on let's get you home."

Aki stood up and began to walk out, Sakura right behind her. Mei was surveying the room for one last time when she saw a few photos taped to the side of the wardrobe.

One was a picture of three lines of young children, with toothy grins and rags. Satellite orphans. She quickly picked out Yusei and Crow. Jack was harder to find, but she found him eventually, sulking in the corner of the photo.

Another was a picture of four teenage boys. She instantly recognised Yusei and Crow, without their criminal marks. Jack grinned at the camera; he hadn't changed a bit. Last was a tall boy with blue-grey hair his grin taking up half of his face. Underneath someone had scrawled "Team Satisfaction."

Another one was ripped and burnt at the edges. It was a picture of a man and a woman. The woman very petite, with brown hair and a big smile. The man was very tall and was bending down and smiling at the baby in the woman's arms. The baby was, as well, smiling, clutching his mother's necklace. It looked like a professional photo.

"It's the only evidence I have that my parents did exist," a voice said from behind her. Mei jumped a foot in the air and whirled around to find Yusei leaning on the doorframe. "We found it in Ener-D area."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry," whispered Mei. "I should better be going; I don't actually know where I am."

"You're at Poppo Time. Poppo Time Shop is just next door."

Mei nodded, finally getting her bearings and visualised the bus stop. It wasn't too far away.

"Ummm…. If you're thinking about taking the closest bus stop, there isn't much left of it."

Mei looked at him. Had he read her thoughts? "H-How so?"

Yusei sighed. "Jack decided to take his anger out on it, one day. Though, I'm not entirely sure what the bus stop did."

Mei smiled. "It's OK, I know where the next one is, thank you very much!"

She ran down the corridor and was about to descend down the ladder, when-

"Hey, Mei?" Yusei called.

"Yes?" she called.

"Is Aki doing ok at school?"

Mei stared at him.

"Uh… yeah. She's doing well, why do you ask?"

She could have sworn she saw him blush slightly, but she ignored it.

"Ohhh… No reason… Good-bye, Mei, it was nice to meet you."

"Good-bye!"

And with that, Mei climbed down the ladder and met Aki and Sakura at the door. After walking for a few minutes, they arrived at the bus stop, with a few minutes to spare.

"So, Aki, are you staying overnight? With the boys I mean." Sakura asked.

"My parents are out of town and there is nothing I hate more than an empty house. My imagination plays tricks on me and I get really scared. So, yep, I'll be crashing there."

"Is there a spare bedroom?" Mei asked, curious.

"Yes, but I prefer to sleep on the sofa, if I can. Trust me, its comfier."

Out of nowhere, the bus pulled up. Mei and Sakura both flashed their season tickets and hopped on board, taking the very back seats. They turned and waved goodbye from the window.

They noticed Aki had been joined by Yusei, who was with the twins. The twins also boarded the bus, but they sat closer to the driver.

Both duos waved at the people growing smaller and smaller in the distance. Before they turned the corner, Sakura looked back one last time-

And saw Yusei and Aki walking back to the house, hand-in-hand.

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**So, what did you think? Please review, they make me smile! :D**

**(*) Mei and Sakura are actual characters in the Manga.**


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